How to Get Rid of Hiccups: 14 Home Remedies That Actually Work

Why do hiccups always seem to strike at the worst possible moment? Here’s how to get rid of hiccups fast.

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1. How to get rid of hiccups: Cover your mouth

The next time you get a case of hiccups, try cupping your hands over your nose and mouth, but continue breathing normally. (You can also breathe into a paper bag if you’ve got one handy.) In either case, the extra dose of carbon dioxide should help you get rid of hiccups.

If this home remedy for hiccups doesn’t work, try the next tip…

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2. Use your hands to get rid of hiccups

If covering your mouth doesn’t help you get rid of hiccups, try pressing the palm of your hand with the thumb of your other hand—the harder, the better. Alternatively, you can squeeze the ball of your left thumb between the thumb and forefinger of the right. The discomfort is a distraction that affects your nervous system and may get rid of hiccups. (One of the advantages of this home remedy for hiccups? You can do it under the table without anyone staring at you!)

4. Get rid of hiccups by sticking out your tongue

When no one’s watching, stick out your tongue. This exercise is done by singers and actors because it stimulates the opening between the vocal cords (the glottis). You breathe more smoothly, quelling the spasms that cause hiccups.

5. Plug your ears to get rid of hiccups

The next time you get hiccups, stick your fingers in your ears for 20 to 30 seconds. Alternatively, you can press the soft areas behind your earlobes, just below the base of the skull. This sends a “relax” signal through the vagus nerve, which connects to the diaphragm. According to new research, these classic home remedies have surprising health benefits.

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6. Drink some water to get rid of hiccups

Take nine or ten quick sips in a row from a glass of water. When you’re gulping a drink, rhythmic contractions of the esophagus override spasms of the diaphragm. If this doesn’t work, place a single layer of paper towel over the top of a glass, then drink through the towel. You’ll have to “pull” even harder with your diaphragm to suck up the water.

7. Combine strategies 5 and 6

If you can block your ears while you drink the water, all the better. Stick your fingers in your ears and sip though a straw. You’re pressing on the vagus nerve while also getting the benefits of steady swallowing—it’s one of the most effective home remedies for hiccups.

8. Swallow something sweet

A spoonful of sugar is a popular hiccups cure because its graininess could slightly irritate the esophagus, causing the phrenic nerves to “reset” themselves, although there is no proof of this. Check out these unsolved medical mysteries that still stump doctors.

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9. …Or something sour

Take a teaspoonful of vinegar. Its sour taste could stop a hiccup in its tracks.

10. Have some peanut butter

A big spoonful of peanut butter is a classic cure if you’re pondering how to get rid of hiccups. In the process of chewing and getting it off your tongue and teeth, your swallowing and breathing patterns are interrupted. And hence, the hiccups will be history.

11. Sip some hot sauce

This probably works because the heat and burn are distracting enough to turn your body’s focus on the burn, instead of the hiccup process. Check out more herbs and spices that heal.

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12. Enjoy a little honey

Put 1 teaspoon of honey, stirred in warm water, on the back of your tongue, and swallow it. Like dill, honey could potentially tickle the vagus nerve to make the hiccups stop. Bonus: Honey is great for healing ulcers, and is also a known infection fighter and cough soother.

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13. Yummy chocolate remedy

The process of how to get rid of hiccups gets a little more difficult with this method. Eat some powdered chocolate drink mix (cocoa or Ovaltine) right off the spoon. Swallowing the spoonful isn’t easy—but it should cure the hiccups.

14. Chew up some dill

Here’s a simple, pleasant-tasting trick on how to get rid of hiccups: Slowly chew a teaspoon of dill seeds. This traditional cure may work because swallowing the seeds stimulates the vagus nerve to make the hiccups stop.